Rhododendrons: BC Lower Mainland Suppliers????

I want to hunt up a few nice rhodos for my new gardens, in particular the variegated leaved "President Roosevelt".

I am doing a large street bed with a theme of lime green, plummy purple and yellow/orange. Anybody got any favourite cultivars to recommend? I have room for large and small plants.

And can anyone recommend a specialty rhodo grower/supplier in the Lower Mainland area?

 

Spend a few hours browsing through newsletters of the Vancouver Rhododendron Society

 

They pilloried my President Roosevelt!

(removed nonsensical link)

 

I'm thinking that might not be the link you intended to insert, WW. Unless the pillory is buried in an off-topic site?

But on the subject of Rhodos, I've enjoyed a couple of visits to Wrenhaven in south Surrey (http://www.wrenhavennursery.com/). Leave yourself some time to chat with the proprieter; he is both knowledgeable and voluble. I've been very pleased with the plants I've come away with, they've held up under my care quite admirably, perhaps because they come out of open ground rather than pots. And they sell sizes you might not usually find in nurseries, both bigger and smaller.

I just noticed that Southlands has a number of species rhodos in stock, in their table section.

I've seen rhodos I really like at local nurseries - Mandeville, for example - but it is hard to choose just based on the plant tags. You might go shopping with the Greer book (Greer's Guide to Available Rhododendrons) or something similar in hand.

 

Indeed, WesternWilson, the Vancouver Rhododendron Society rhodoholics do not like R. 'President Roosevelt'.

(Copied and pasted, their password protection does not work under Linux) from page 7 of the April 2006 issue of 'The Indumentum', their monthly periodical:

“I hated it when I lived back East and was pleased to be asked (when I came to Vancouver) if I had every seen a worse rhododendron. To begin, the variegated foliage gives it an ironstarved look. Everything else is just too ordinary for words.†(Charlie Sale)
“It’s very ugly in flower colour and variegated foliage and in the combination of the two.†(Joe Ronsley)
“It’s a wonderful twotone but is not that hardy and has a tendency to revert to a solid green.†(Garth Wedemire)
“When it’s in bloom, the (flower and foliage) combination is horrible.†(Douglas Justice)
“It has no charm. It’s the ugliest variegated plant I’ve seen.†(Ron Feicht)
“Variegated leaves and flowers don’t mix.†(Jennifer Lamb)

Can't get my wife to propagate it either! We've got lots of other varieties though.....

 

There is no password protection on the Indumentum, *nix or no. Ah, you mean Adobe Acrobat? You can C+P from some PDF files.

 

I've attached a Windows XP screen shot of the properties of the April 2006 Indumentum pdf.

Note "Security Method: Password Security" and "Content Copying or Extraction is Not Allowed".

Copy and paste does not work in Windows (XP), but sure does with Linux (Fedora Core 5).

 

How interesting and bizarre. Well, you're right. I can't C+P in Win2K. Must be ever since Douglas started using Win XP instead of Win 2K and a reinstallation of Adobe Acrobat was required.

 

And thanks for the context, Chris. I now understand (though am displeased) about the site linked to by WesternWilson in his post about the pillory of that rhododendron.

 

I don't know where that link pointed to: WW, KarinL, you and perhaps a few other people do, but I suspect it pointed to the domain hosting 'The Indumentum' issues, that would explain your displeasure.

 

No, it was to a site known for its gross-out and disgusting photos / movies.

 

Heavens! My apologies, I only wanted to link you to the President R. pillory piece!

To recap, they find it unbearably pedestrian, a trailer trash kind of rhodo.

Which is odd. I am not devoid of taste, and like any elegant gardener, I deplore impatiens. : )

But Pres. R has the twin charms of variegated foliage and the most happy, cheery blooms you can imagine. After a gloomy monsoon season, it provides a welcome bright spot in the garden. In our last house, it was the plant featured as you looked out our window. Everybody loved it.

This "dump on the Prez" thing strikes me as herdspeak.

Again, my apologies for that link. I honestly have no idea where that came from.

WesternWilson
mother of three

 

"Mother of three" is good. Don't worry, you've now established crediblity here. I must admit I wondered when this happened and then we never heard from you again.

"Herdspeak" is also a very apt comment, more so in the current flourescent bulb and global warming er... climate. Today we really need to be aware of how easily "herdspeak" can capture any of us, and to do it on the basis of good taste - something to which everyone aspires! - is particularly sneaky.

Someone near me has what I conjecture is this Rhodo in what is a fabulous, and somewhat of a collector's, garden, and while I looked at it some years back and decided not to get it myself, I still had nothing bad to say about the plant itself. It it's not for me, in my garden, it might be for someone else, somewhere else. The area you describe, and your plans for it, seem just right. Why not phone around to nurseries to ask? They often don't mind (if you don't call Saturday afternoon) and this would be the most likely time of year to find it.

 

Rhododendron 'President Roosevelt', sometimes called 'Tumbling Teddy' due to its weak stems and their tendency to break off easily from the rootball, might be available this weekend, May 5th and 6th at the annual Vancouver Rhododendron Society Show and Sale at Park and Tilford, North Vancouver, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, both days.

 

I did just find a great specimen and brought it home!

However, I am on the hunt for a really nice "Bruce Brechtsbill" and a "Noyo Brave".

Anybody seen some healthy ones?

Regards,
Janet

 

WW, we have both 'Bruce Brechtbill' and 'Noyo Brave'

 

In your garden, Chris, or do you run a nursery?

 

I'm an IT geek, but my wife propagates rhododendrons and companion plants. She'll be a vendor at Park and Tilford on the weekend.

 

Alas, we are away this weekend!

 

I could arrange to have this 'Bruce Brechtbill' put on hold for you, let me know.

 

That would be great Chris! I live in Tsawwassen...might it be easier for me to drop by your place sometime next week. Would love to see your wife's garden!

And what does she charge for the rhodos?

 

response taken to PM